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[Recruit] Exalted: Infernals

In the First Age, there was a great war between the gods and their creators, the Primordials. Ruled and led by their king, Malfeas, who could not conceive of defeat, the Primordials were nonetheless overthrown by their traitorous children. The gods had empowered their own children, the Exalted, and gifted them with the strength and power to overthrow the Primordials, though at great cost. The greatest of the Exalted, children of the Unconquered Sun, were called the Solar Exalted, and through treachery and a betrayal of the order of Creation, the Solars cast down the Primordials and committed the ultimate crime against the creators of their world: they murdered several of the Primordials, beings who could not conceive of death.

Malfeas saw this and knew that they had lost, knew that he had failed to protect his subjects, and once again did the unthinkable: the king of the universe surrendered. He was cast down, his component souls turned inside out and forced to become the prison of the Primordials, within which all the beings now known as “demons” would exist. In rage and despair, Malfeas had nearly given up on ever finding release.

But then one of his brothers, the Ebon Dragon, came unto him and spoke of a great master plan: the Reclamation. It would require cooperation, and vision, but it would find them freedom. Along with Adorjan, also called the Silent Wind, Cycelene, and She Who Lives In Her Name, with assistance from Kimbery, The Sea That Marched Against The Flame, the five Primordials contacted their slain bretheren, the Neverborn, and concocted a plan that would earn them all release.

They assisted the Neverborn’s servants, the Deathlords, in freeing some of the broken Solar Exaltations from their Jade Prison, in return for a portion of these Essences for their own use. Fifty in all, the Primordials reshaped them for their own use, creating new servants out of old enemies. They called these servants the Infernal Exalted… and these servants are you.

This here is going to be an Exalted 2nd Edition game focusing on a coven of Infernal Exalted (who you guys will play!) The focus will be on Reclamation-oriented Infernals and all of the baggage that comes with that; dealing with life in Hell, and Hellish politics, and hanging out with demons will all be important themes.

That said, I want to run a character-centric game -- I want interesting and fun characters to tell stories about and with!

I'm looking for four to five players, with three to four Infernals and one Sidereal Akuma or one Abyssal (with the caveat that there has to be a Fiend in the group if there's going to be an Abyssal.)

The game will be rated PG-13 to R, which is to say, there will be violence and terrible activities and the occasional boobs and maybe some people will knock boots off-screen.

You must have access to Exalted 2e and Manual of Exalted Power: Infernals for this. Normally I'm willing to help people out with systems if they don't know them, but Exalted is too involved and Infernals is too different from Solars for someone without either book to really get by.

We will be using the errata from Glories of the Most High as well as incorporating the Defend Other and Blockade Movement actions from those books.

Past that: I take a very open approach to Exalted. The game's a sandbox, and I like that. Make your character with the themes you like in mind, and I'll do my best to make sure they're important to the game. I don't expect the PCs to be working together as a party 100% of the time -- you'll all have your own interests and motivations to tend to as well as group stuff with the coven.

Some things I'd rather not focus on, though, are warstriders and robots etc, as well as the fair folk. Warstriders don't really interest me, and I don't have Graceful Wicked Masques.

Posts

My character will probably, unless there are major problems here, be Fasara, a Fiend serving the Ebon Dragon. He's a slick manipulator, seducer, and all around schemer, and he'll work a lot behind the scenes to make sure things go as smoothly as possible.

He prefers to lie with the truth rather than speak direct falsehoods, but he's not above doing things the other way either. He goes to great pains to hide his Infernal nature whenever possible, preferring only to reveal it when it would do the most harm to someone else's reputation, and even then only under disguise so he won't be recognized later, but he'll do whatever is needful whenever it is so.

He'll also be happy to liase with any Abyssals we have working with us, naturally, though he'll probably do his best to ensure that the Infernals have the advantage whenever possible in any dealings with their deathknight cousins.

I'd try to play a [strike]minmaxed to hell and back[/strike] completely ordinary Slayer whose lack of social grace is played for comic relief, but I'm trying to get my shit together for a Dragon-Blooded game.

Well, I've been tossing an idea around for an Infernal since the book came out, but it looks like Krata has already jumped onto the Fiend Caste. Of course, if you're not objecting to caste-stacking(and there's little reason to, in an Infernal Coven,) I was thinking of making a character who was the reincarnation of Dancer In Light(from DotFA,) brought back as an Adorjani Fiend with a thing for dancing, who got Stanewald turned into a demon-ink tattoo, so they could never be apart again.
Not 100% on what her urge would be, I'm just not sure what would be a good fit, but she tends towards the high 'compassion' end of the scale, with the typically skewed views of Adorjani exalts.
Basically a diva wannabe, her motivation would be to dance before all creatures of Heaven, Creation, Malfeas, and the Underworld, so that all can see how perfect she is.

Mechanically, she'd be a martial artist, with more of a focus on Adorjani charms than the Ebon Dragon, although she'd take her excellencies from the ED. Most/all of her background dots would be sunk into Past Life and a Demon Ink Tattoo of Stanewald.

Of course, if you don't want to stack castes, I wouldn't want to steal Krata's idea. I'd be perfectly happy playing an Akuma Sidereal, since I actually quite adore the Siddy charmset.

I don't mind Caste stacking. It means you'll have a little bit of Charm overlap necessarily (since you have to take 5 charms from your patron's charm set at chargen) but it doesn't bother me.

Fantastico, if you've got the books, I don't mind if you don't know the system inside and out. I just don't want to have to explain like charm by charm what people's options are and stuff.

Let's see...

Krata, Hotran, Adventfalls, Rainfall, Thanatos, Fantastico, Winds ... oh god, so many interests. Let's uh, let's close up the Who's Interested part now and see how you seven come through -- I'll probably have to snip the game down to about five players regardless, though, seven's more than I'd want to run with Exalted even at a tabletop.

Not using any special chargen rules, but if someone does want to roll up an Akuma, I might have to take a look at those, because they start off with like +30 bp and a bunch of mutations on top of their normal chargen.

I was thinking of making a character who was the reincarnation of Dancer In Light(from DotFA,) brought back as an Adorjani Fiend with a thing for dancing, who got Stanewald turned into a demon-ink tattoo, so they could never be apart again.
Not 100% on what her urge would be, I'm just not sure what would be a good fit, but she tends towards the high 'compassion' end of the scale, with the typically skewed views of Adorjani exalts.
Basically a diva wannabe, her motivation would be to dance before all creatures of Heaven, Creation, Malfeas, and the Underworld, so that all can see how perfect she is.

Mechanically, she'd be a martial artist, with more of a focus on Adorjani charms than the Ebon Dragon, although she'd take her excellencies from the ED. Most/all of her background dots would be sunk into Past Life and a Demon Ink Tattoo of Stanewald.

I like the sound of this, and bonus credit for killing a second circle demon (kind of) during character creation :p

INeedNoSalt on November 2009

sometimes you just gotta do a thing

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RainfallIf you do not repay me,I will RECLAIM the ball.Registered Userregular

The East is the direction of Creation I'm most familiar with and will probably use most ... but I expect/intend to have the characters spend a fair bit of time in Malfeas, and a skeleton key in someone's hands would go a long way toward making the entirety of Creation a reasonable playground.

So if anyone has direction-tied Motivations or Urges, keeping them to the East will be easiest, but it's not too difficult for Infernals to get around Creation.

I don't have super-specific plans yet because, character-centric and all, I'm not certain what your characters will be interested in doing.

I'm familiarizing myself with the Infernals book at the moment and should have some delicious character ideas tomorrow.
I only have personal experience playing Dragon Blooded and Lunars, but I've wanted to play an Infernal/Abyssal game for a long while.

...though a Lunar akuma is almost tempting, if not what you were asking for.

I've gotten hold of Infernals, so I'm hoping to have a concept/background up w/in 24 hours. Like vagrant_winds, I haven't played them before, but so far it looks awesome. From a brief skim, I was leaning towards Scourge, but I'm flexible.

So I'm writing up my character, and I'm thinking that her Chrysalis Grotesque was formed from an Angyalkae(spawn of the Kite Flute, of the Prince Upon the Tower, of Adorjan,) and they tend to attack via their prehensile hair.

So considering that as an attack option, could I do one of the following?

1. Spend a bonus point for a mutation that would allow Martial Arts attacks made with hair to deal Lethal damage(razor hair or something)

2. Weave very very sharp pieces of metal into her hair and gain weapons as per Tiger Claws.

Or, the least supported by mechanics but most preferable...

3. Spend a bonus point(or two) for a mutation that would allow me to make attacks with hair as per Tiger Claw stats. (because unarmed MA damage really blows.)

I'm familiarizing myself with the Infernals book at the moment and should have some delicious character ideas tomorrow.
I only have personal experience playing Dragon Blooded and Lunars, but I've wanted to play an Infernal/Abyssal game for a long while.

...though a Lunar akuma is almost tempting, if not what you were asking for.

I included Sidereal Akuma and Abyssals in the 'also accepting these' bit because a renegade Sidereal serving as an evil vizier for a group of evilled up Solars and also an Abyssal working with eviled up Solars because of a deal between a Death Lord and the Ebon Dragon were ideas I liked.

Rainfall, since you're going for MA as well, I have to ask if you'll feel terribly infringed upon if I focus on Dreaming Pearl Courtesan style for Fasara? If so, that's fine, I'll stick to a switch-off between paired knives and flame pieces.

No, by all means go ahead. I'm not actually taking an MA style, since Infernal Charms allow you to actually do that. Going for Adorjani charms with MA just means that I can make an even larger number of attacks.

I may pick up Silver-Voiced Nightingale Style if I can find a teacher at some point, but I doubt it.

So this is the worst part of running a game with fairly open recruitment. Seven players is more than I'll be able to handle, though. This selection is biased, I won't lie. People I am certain will be reliable posters took precedence, and that means the few of you I've never met before are at a disadvantage.

I'm sorry, vagrant and fantastico. I'd like to take you all, but seven players is more than I can handle. It was a very hard choice between you guys.

I know I said I'd see what everyone had in mind, but I decided to make the cut early so that people wouldn't be stuck making characters (which can take forever with Exalted) and being told to shelf them.

After going through things a bit more thoroughly, I'm thinking a Slayer might work a bit better than a Scourge. What I've got so far in terms of concept/background is below the tag; again, new to Infernals, so yay to feedback.

In mortal life, Walker on Shards of Beauty was a captain in the Gethamane guard. Among other duties, his small guerilla unit was charged with developing contacts among the Icewalkers, in order to provide the city with a bulwark against the growing power of the Bull of the North. A difficult task, Walker undertook it willingly, but the effort was doomed from the start. The group had some initial success ingratiating themselves with several tribes by posing as traders; however, one of Walker's troops (he never found out which) betrayed his fellows, and they were slaughtered as they fled the Icewalker camp.

Only Walker made it back alive, and he bore the full weight of his unit's failure on his shoulders. After the briefest and showiest of show trials, he was imprisoned deep below the city. It was here that a servant of Malfeas found him, despondent over his failure, and the death of his comrades. The demon forced him to relive their agony for days, highlighting each of the ways Walker had fallen short; he forced him to watch the petty nobles that presided over his trial condemn him over and over again. When he was at his lowest, the demon offered Walker enough power to make sure that he never suffered such indignities again, and he jumped at the chance.

Now a slayer in the service of Malfeas, Walker revels in the absolute domination of his master's foes; never again will effete weaklings judge his actions, nor will cowards spoil his plans.

---Edit---

Ack, totally didn't see the above post. Thanks for the vote of confidence, INNS, hopefully I don't come up short.

So I have the background/concept ready, again- newbie to Infernal Exalts, so I'm flexible.

Ano Akina was once a charismatic up-and-comer, a lady seeking office in a town that had a history of being male-led. She became a top candidate for the town's mayor, and had a promising future.
Unfortunately for her, the incumbent mayor saw his poll numbers had taken a turn for the worse and that Ano actually had a good chance of winning the election.

On the eve of election, she discovered that her opponent had been funneling the town's money toward something else. Confident of her victory, she slept on it. The next morning, she discovered two things:
first, that she had lost the election, and second, that the money her opponent had been funneling had gone towards buying the election.

Distraught by her victory and knowing that she could no longer reveal her opponent's corruption, she turned her anger inward. He developed an unhealthy hatred of men, and the belief that men could not be trusted with power.

It was at this point she was approached by a servant of Cecelyne.

Now she is a Malefactor of Cecelyne, dedicated to using her newfound powers to create a matriarchy.

adventfalls on November 2009

NintendoID: AdventFalls 3DS Code: 3454-0237-6080

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RainfallIf you do not repay me,I will RECLAIM the ball.Registered Userregular

The tale of Rihanis, the Dancing Wind
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl in the Threshold. Her parents were simple farmers, and they doted on her, giving her whatever she wanted as she danced in the fields, taking joy in the simple beauty of life.

But before that, in the long-forgotten First Age, a beautiful young man dealt with demons. He loved one, danced with her, and promised himself to Hell itself.

The young girl danced in the fields one day, and watched men approach. They killed her parents, her family, and burned the house. When they came for her, she did not speak or run, she simply cried.

But before that, a man watched his house crumble, his beautiful dance interrupted by war. He did not resist, he only shed a single gorgeous tear.

They took her to the Throne of Roses, home to a terrible man known as the Slug. He watched her dance, and asked her to his room for a night. In her heart, she dreamed of revenge, and held a dagger tight. But when the time came, she was afraid. The dagger dropped on the marble floor, and she went without resisting.

But before that, a man was taken off to be executed, mute with loss at the abandonment of his demonic lover, and the betrayal of his servants. He did not fight, and refused to break his silence to speak. But when he bowed his head for the executioner's axe, all knew he would return one day.

As she cried in her bedchambers, upon a couch scented by roses, the sound of harping tore her from her grief. A beautiful woman plucked music from the air with her long, delicate fingers, and she offered a chance for true revenge, to reclaim Creation for that which is beautiful and those who were right.. The girl accepted.

But before that, a beast freed the soul of the beautiful dancer, and brought it to new masters. A monstrous dragon, flaming spheres, and a silent wind.

When the young girl stepped into Malfeas, reshaped, made whole, filled with desire for revenge, the whispers of the past filled her mind. A demon, a lover, a friend, a dancer... she wanted her. She Who Lives In Her Name offered the demon in exchange for services. One favor each year, to be performed without question, and the demoness would be hers.
The young girl accepted, and bound the demoness into her flesh so they would never be apart, heedless of the others agony, driven by the fear of ancient memories, betrayal and abandonment.

And now the young girl laughs as she dances through the streets of the Demon City, never alone, for voices whisper in her mind, and never betrayed, for she trusts no-one.

Appearance:

Rihanis is naturally beautiful, and her Chrysalis Grotesque, as well as the essence of Stanewald have combined to make her something even more supernaturally attractive. Her skin is soft and pale, her fingers just a little too long for her hands. Ice-cold beautiful blue eyes gaze out from her face, underneath her long black hair that sparkles with hidden razors and danger. The tight-fitting clothes she wears leave no doubt as to the supernatural perfection of the rest of her body, either. Combined with unnatural grace and poise, her every move sketches her as a beautiful poem in motion, taking steps to a dance that only she can hear the music to, played by the harper in her head.

Sheet:

Name: Rihanis, The Dancing Wind
Player: Rainfall
Concept: Dancing psychopath
Caste: Fiend
Motivation: Dance before all creatures of Creation, Malfeas, and Heaven(at the same time.)
Urge: Adorjani - Kill every ugly person she sees*
Anima: An Angyalkae standing behind her, long fingers reaching around, plucking at the air, shredding it into hellish red and green light, and removing other colors from the area
Intimiacies: She Who Lives In Her Name, The Ebon Dragon, Hating Sesus Nagezzer
*Does not consider demons/demonic mutations ugly. Only creation-born people can count as ugly.